Transposon-tagging identifies novel pathogenicity genes in Fusarium graminearum.
With the increase of sequenced fungal genomes, high-throughput methods for functional analyses of genes are needed. We assessed the potential of a new transposon mutagenesis tool deploying a Fusarium oxysporum miniature inverted-repeat transposable element mimp1, mobilized by the transposase of impala, a Tc1-like transposon, to obtain knock-out mutants in Fusarium graminearum. We localized 91 mimp1 insertions which showed good distribution over the entire genome. The main exception was a major hotspot on chromosome 2 where independent insertions occurred at exactly the same nucleotide position. Furthermore insertions in promoter regions were over-represented. Screening 331 mutants for sexual development, radial growth and pathogenicity on wheat resulted in 19 mutants (5.7%) with altered phenotypes. Complementation with the original gene restored the wild-type phenotype in two selected mutants demonstrating the high tagging efficiency. This is the first report of a MITE transposon tagging system as an efficient mutagenesis tool in F. graminearum.
Dufresne
Marie
M
Univ. Paris-Sud 11, CNRS, UMR8621, Institut de Génétique et Microbiologie, 91405 Orsay, France.
van der Lee
Theo
T
Ben M'barek
Sarrah
S
Xu
Xiude
X
Zhang
Xu
X
Liu
Taiguo
T
Waalwijk
Cees
C
Zhang
Wenwei
W
Kema
Gert H J
GH
Daboussi
Marie-Josée
MJ
D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D005670:Fusarium / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional / Q000379:methods*; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D014908:Triticum / Q000382:microbiology; D014774:Virulence / Q000235:genetics
D004251:DNA Transposable Elements